Institutional Theory, National Culture and MNCs

Write on one key insight of institutional theory which produces evidence that "national culture" affects how organizations are structured. Explain how these phenomena are amplified in multinational organizations.

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For questions like this, it helps to separate the different components of the question and address them individually before attempting to draw conclusions or relationships between the components of the question.

Taking this approach then, first address the three main components: 1) institutional theory, 2) national culture, and 3) organizational structure (which some may read as 'culture'. The challenge posits a connection between institutional theory and the insights that the theory provides and how national culture affects how organizations are structured. Further, it also posits that the relationship between organizational structure and institutional theory are more important or 'amplified' in multi-national organizations, which simply says that there is a difference in effect between purely domestic and multi-national organizations.

Next, assess "institutional theory". One source for this topic is a paper done by W Richard Scott, at Stanford University. The paper can be found here: >http://icos.groups.si.umich.edu/Institutional%20Theory%20Oxford04.pdf>

To quote Mr. Scott:
"Institutional theory attends to the deeper and more resilient aspects of social ...